Marketing Aug 15, 2018
Building Strong Brands: The Inside Scoop on Branding in the Real World
Tim Calkins’s blog draws lessons from brand missteps and triumphs.

Morgan Ramberg
For Kellogg’s Tim Calkins, there’s plenty to learn from brands that make smart decisions—like Geico’s commitment to its memorable tagline: “15 minutes can save you 15 percent or more on car insurance.”
There’s probably even more to learn from the brands that mess up.
From United Airlines forcibly removing a passenger from an overbooked flight to Sea World’s long, slow trickle of negative publicity, Calkins’s much-lauded blog Building Strong Brands is the place to go for insightful takes on brands in the news.
“I hope my blog encourages people to think a bit more deeply about brands, marketing, and communication more broadly,” says Calkins, a clinical professor of marketing at Kellogg.
If you are unfamiliar with his blog, here’s a preview of what you’ve been missing.
A “Pay Your Age” Fiasco
By all accounts, Build-A-Bear’s recent “Pay Your Age Day” promotion was an utter disaster. Crowded stores, long lines, and “safety concerns” forced the stuffed-animal retailer to shut down what was intended to be an all-day event by 11 a.m.
Clearly, the day marked a low point for the retailer. After all, no company wants to be associated with crying children. But as Calkins wrote in a recent post, Build-A-Bear’s brand may experience a less obvious—and potentially more insidious—hit for quite some time.
By offering its products at $3 or $5—if even for a day—the company may have set the expectation that this is all that its product should cost. “Pricing is complicated,” writes Calkins, “especially for items that aren’t easy to compare. What is the right price for a home robot? I have no idea. How about a flying personal drone that can get you to your work? Not a clue.”
So consumers use what a product does cost as a reference. “For many people, the correct price for an iTunes song is 99 cents, only because that’s where Apple started,” Calkins explains. Now that some people have seen a stuffed narwhal or T-Rex go for a handful of dollars, their willingness to pay could be influenced “for many years to come.”
Freedom for All
In another recent post, Calkins explains why he thinks Budweiser’s creatively named new Freedom Reserve Red Lager—“inspired by a recipe that George Washington wrote in his journal in 1757”—is a good idea, though unlikely to be a blockbuster.
Fraction Confusion
Or check out this post on Fifth Third Bank’s acquisition of MB Financial Bank. “The move,” writes Calkins, “gives Cincinnati-based Fifth Third an opportunity to do something it should have done a long time ago—drop its ridiculous brand name.”
-
What Went Wrong at Silicon Valley Bank?And how can it be avoided next time? A new analysis sheds light on vulnerabilities within the U.S. banking industry.
-
How Are Black–White Biracial People Perceived in Terms of Race?Understanding the answer—and why black and white Americans may percieve biracial people differently—is increasingly important in a multiracial society.
-
What Went Wrong at AIG?Unpacking the insurance giant's collapse during the 2008 financial crisis.
-
Will AI Eventually Replace Doctors?Maybe not entirely. But the doctor–patient relationship is likely to change dramatically.
-
Which Form of Government Is Best?Democracies may not outlast dictatorships, but they adapt better.
-
Podcast: "It's Hard to Regulate U.S. Banks!"Silicon Valley Bank spectacularly collapsed—and a new analysis suggests that its precarious situation is not as much of an outlier as we’d hope. On this episode of The Insightful Leader, we learn what went wrong and what should happen next.
-
What Happens to Worker Productivity after a Minimum Wage Increase?A pay raise boosts productivity for some—but the impact on the bottom line is more complicated.
-
Why Do Some People Succeed after Failing, While Others Continue to Flounder?A new study dispels some of the mystery behind success after failure.
-
Marketers, Don’t Be Too Hasty to Act on DataDon’t like the trends you’re seeing? It’s tempting to take immediate action. Instead, consider a hypothesis-driven approach to solving your problems.
-
Why Well-Meaning NGOs Sometimes Do More Harm than GoodStudies of aid groups in Ghana and Uganda show why it’s so important to coordinate with local governments and institutions.
-
Understanding the Pandemic’s Lasting Impact on Real EstateWork-from-home has stuck around. What does this mean for residential and commercial real-estate markets?
-
How Has Marketing Changed over the Past Half-Century?Phil Kotler’s groundbreaking textbook came out 55 years ago. Sixteen editions later, he and coauthor Alexander Chernev discuss how big data, social media, and purpose-driven branding are moving the field forward.
-
How Much Do Campaign Ads Matter?Tone is key, according to new research, which found that a change in TV ad strategy could have altered the results of the 2000 presidential election.
-
How Peer Pressure Can Lead Teens to Underachieve—Even in Schools Where It’s “Cool to Be Smart”New research offers lessons for administrators hoping to improve student performance.
-
Immigrants to the U.S. Create More Jobs than They TakeA new study finds that immigrants are far more likely to found companies—both large and small—than native-born Americans.
-
Leaders, Don’t Be Afraid to Admit Your FlawsWe prefer to work for people who can make themselves vulnerable, a new study finds. But there are limits.
-
For Students with Disabilities, Discrimination Starts Before They Even Enter SchoolPublic-school principals are less welcoming to prospective families with disabled children—particularly when they’re Black.
-
Executive Presence Isn’t One-Size-Fits-All. Here’s How to Develop Yours.A professor and executive coach unpacks this seemingly elusive trait.
-
How Self-Reflection Can Make You a Better LeaderSetting aside 15 minutes a day can help you prioritize, prepare, and build a stronger team